This invention relates to a method and apparatus for magnetic treatment of fluids, particularly liquids.
A considerable amount of study and development has been conducted over the last 35 years or so, indicating empirically that magnetically treated liquids, such as water, contribute effectively to the prevention, loosening, and removal of crust and scale from the inner surfaces of metal conduits, tanks, sewage systems, and the like. It has been found that exposure of liquids to predominantly south pole magnetic fields are particularly effective in reducing crust and scale buildup on conduit walls. Prior art devices for accomplishing this liquid treatment have used horseshoe and bar magnets or the like in which both the north and south poles of the magnets are adjacent the pipe through which the fluids flow such that one of the magnetic pole energies are predominant on the upstream side of the device and the other magnetic pole energies are predominant on the downstream side of the device. The above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 2,652,925 to Vermeiren discloses ring- or donut-shaped magnets arranged around a pipe through which a liquid flows with one pole of each magnet on the upstream side of the device and the opposite pole on the downstream side of the device.
It is an object of the instant invention to magnetically treat liquids in a more efficient and economical manner than has been done previously.
It is a further object of the invention to magnetically treat liquids by exposing them to a predominantly south pole oriented field in order to impart properties to the liquid which effectively contribute to descaling and the like.
It is a further object of the invention to magnetically treat potable liquids, such as wines, by passing them through magnetically oriented fields which are either predominantly north pole or predominantlv south pole fields for the purpose of changing the taste of the liquid.
One embodiment of the instant invention generally comprises a cylindrical casing of molded plastic or the like for surrounding a pipe through which a liquid is passed. The casing includes plural magnets arranged around the periphery of the pipe in such a manner that their north poles are directed radially outwardly from the central axis of the pipe and their south poles are directed radially inwardly toward the central axis in order to concentrate the south pole magnetic fields more strongly upon the fluid. In an alternate embodiment, the orientation of the poles has been reversed such that the liquid is subjected to predominantly north pole magnetic fields.